


Persephone

by a2zmom



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Angst, Episode Related, F/M, Season/Series 03, Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-15
Updated: 2007-04-15
Packaged: 2017-10-08 01:56:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/71506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a2zmom/pseuds/a2zmom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yet another take on the off-screen meeting between Angel and Buffy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Persephone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Evil_Little_Dog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/gifts).



Buffy's already there when he arrives. He's a few hundred yards away and he's fairly certain that she hasn't noticed his presence yet. He takes the opportunity to watch her. She's thin, too thin and her shoulders are hunched. Her arms are wrapped around her belly, trying to warm herself. She looks tiny and fragile and in all of the time he's known her, he never thought that those would be words he'd associate with her.

She reminds him of a child trying to reassure itself after a nightmare. He thinks the analogy is sadly apt.

Angel steps onto the beach and feels the sand shift beneath his boots. He hasn't gone more than six steps before she turns and faces him. There isn't any joy at seeing him; there's barely any recognition at all. Her face, always so open and expressive, is a blank page.

He doesn't know what to say. He knows what he wants to say. That it felt like the world ended when he heard she was dead. The now that she's back, he has hope again. That she's still the most important thing on this earth to him. But he sees what's in her eyes, what he's been trying to pretend isn't there. The problem is he's seen it hundreds of times, usually because he put it there. What she wants is for death to claim her. So, instead of sharing his heart, all he says is, "Hey."

He's just a few feet away now and she turns ever so slightly away. "I'm cold." It isn't a complaint, just a flat observation on her part. Her voice sounds as disinterested as the body language she's presented. "I forgot how cold it gets."

Angel shrugs out of his coat and quickly wraps it around her shoulders. He can't help but remember another time when he made the same gesture. Then her heartbeat quickened and he saw the slight shiver of desire she tried to suppress. This time, she might as well be a statue. Or still dead, he can't help thinking. A minute passes and he takes a half step toward her. "Why don't you sit, Buffy?"

She slowly blinks as if she's trying to understand his words and then she sinks to the ground. Angel follows. They're sitting close together, but apart. Black ripples in the water move to shore, crashing against the beach. It looks like an alien landscape, devoid of life and he wishes he had suggested somewhere else. He wonders if she's thinking about when they were last here.

She had shown up at his apartment, telling him that Giles was pretty sure that a group of heffalumps (he still can recall his bafflement at the word heffalumps. He knew all the common demon species and those were a mystery to him) were terrorizing a small beach community about an hour away. Giles was kindly loaning them his car and so, they had to go right then. (Later he found out it wasn't so much a loan as a presumption on Buffy's part.) They quickly dispatched the heplumks (when he corrected her original mispronunciation, she had laughed and said she hadn't seriously thought that Winnie-the-Pooh was a demon) and then Buffy walked down to the shoreline, talking off her shoes and socks, rolling up her pants legs and wading in. He had stayed behind content to watch, until she had splashed him. Dripping wet, he had pointed out that she had likely ruined his silk shirt. She had only laughed and splashed him again (he teased her by telling her that she owed him one shirt). He dove in and glided under the water. Not having to breathe meant he could keep going like a large dark scaled fish. When he finally caught up with her, he had stood up, pulling her close to him, her warm, wet body molding to his. He had kissed her lips, her eyes, her nose, her eyes, her neck, every bit of skin he could find and he hadn't stopped until she had started shaking from being chilled. He had felt so blessed. He lost his soul three nights later.

Buffy's mouth is set in a thin, hard line and Angel realizes if she is thinking about that long ago day, there's no point in bringing it up. He can't give that to her ever again. He's unsure how to bridge the chasm between them. "If you want to talk, Buffy. About anything."

She's scooping up tiny handfuls of sand and letting them sift through her fingers, over and over. "What's to say?"

"I know none of this can be easy for you."

"I'll be fine. I've dealt with things before. I can do it again."

He looks at her, keeps looking until he's moved past her outward appearance. She's wearing a shroud of sorrow. She's covered in tears and he's just one more burden. His hands tighten on his knees. "Thanks for coming out here. I know things are probably crazy in Sunnydale, so I appreciate it."

As soon as she comprehends he's saying goodbye, she visibly relaxes. Wordlessly, she takes off his coat and hands it back.

He wants to tell her something before he goes, but there aren't any words. I love you? He assumes she knows that, and it doesn't matter in any case. They can't have that. Be safe? He can no longer pretend that she isn't going to die. Be well? They both know she isn't close to anything resembling health. Finally, he shifts and kisses her on the forehead. Her skin is like ice and it shocks him.

He gets up and begins to trudge away and then he stops. He can't do this. He's going to demand to go back to Sunnydale with her. They'll work something out. She needs his help whether or not she admits it. But even as he's thinking this, he keeps moving forward. In the end, he doesn't dare turn around. He just has to hope that his faith in her is enough.


End file.
